16-Inch MacBook Pro Coming In October For $3,000, Report Claims

A report citing sources in the supply chain said Apple will release a 16-inch MacBook Pro model with a hefty price tag in October.

Previous reports said analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that Apple will release an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro in the second half of the year. A new report from Chinese site Economic Daily News has seemingly confirmed Kuo’s prediction.

Citing sources in the supply chain, the report said Apple will release a 16-inch MacBook Pro this coming October. The new MacBook Pro will be a high-end model with a price range starting at about NT$90000 (over $3,000). This price range positions the new device between the iMac and iMac Pro and is likely designed for users who are always on the go, 9To5Mac noted.

The model will reportedly be assembled by Quanta and Foxconn, two of Apple’s largest manufacturing partners. It will feature an LCD with 3,072 x 1,920 resolution. Apple Insider indicated that if the new MacBook Pro will have the same pixel density as that of the existing model, it is likely to have a 16.4-inch display measured diagonally.

Other components

Previously, Ming-Chi Kuo also said that Apple will be doing away with its problematic butterfly keyboard and will opt for new MacBooks to have a keyboard based on scissor switches. This new keyboard, which is made of glass fiber, will be slightly thicker than the butterfly keyboard but can be expected to improve the user’s “typing experience by offering longer key travel and durability.”

It’s unclear, however, if the 16-inch MacBook Pro will feature this kind of keyboard. Kuo did say that Apple will release a new MacBook with this keyboard sometime during the second half of 2019, but it’s uncertain if he was pertaining to the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

An earlier report also said a company named Ruiyi will supply Apple with backlight modules for this device. Ruiyi is Apple’s sole supplier of backlight modules used on the iPad and MacBook Pro. That report, however, said the backlight module manufacturer will start producing the components in the fourth quarter.

Apple hasn’t announced anything about the 16-inch MacBook Pro as of late. Exact release dates are also unknown at the moment. Stay tuned for more details as they come.